We were up early, packing our bags ready to catch the X3 that would take us up to the town centre.
It arrived on time and dropped us at the bus stance in Cumbersheugh. That’s where we caught the the Ember E3 bus, the electric bus. The driver scanned the QR code on Scamp’s phone and then we both scanned our ‘pensioner pass’ and we were on the bus. It wasn’t exactly silent running, but you can blame NLC or any council these days for not doing the proper maintenance on the roads. The system is really clever. The driver reads the display in front of him which tells him where his next pickup point is and when he has to get there. This wasn’t the X3, this was a real express, only stopping where there was a person waiting. It took us less than half the time it would take a normal service bus and were dropped off at the train station in Dundee in no time.
We were way too early to book in, so we went for a coffee and a bite to eat in Nero, then found Braithwaite’s Coffee shop which was closed, as were many of the shops in Dundee on a Monday. We wandered around the shops that were open and were surprised with the state of them. The big mall we remembered was now like a giant Barras Market. It used to look so grand with its three tiers of shops. Now it was just mainly junk shops and charity shops. We came away disillusioned.
We decided we’d better find the hotel we were staying at and after crossing and re-crossing busy roads we were there. Booked in and a very chatty receptionist told us the best places to eat in the town. We thanked him and found our room on the 1st floor. No view from the window unless you count Papa John’s and a casino as interesting.
We walked down to the promenade that runs beside the River Tay and visited the V&A which was one of my reasons for wanting to go to Dundee. Impressive from the outside, and almost as impressive on the inside. A good few photos were taken, most really arty. It’s that sort of place.
Next on the schedule was food. We couldn’t find the restaurant the bloke at reception recommended, but we did find a Tapas place called Black Mamba and decided that would suit us. It was fairly good food, but maybe too much oil in mine. I think it was down to the Padron Peppers in a light batter. I enjoyed then, but they’ve kept returning all evening.
We walked back to the hotel and bought a bottle of Hortus gin and half a dozen cans of tonic on the way. The rest is a blur!
PoD is a view through the V&A to the Tay Road Bridge and further on to Tayport. The V&A is a great place to find silhouettes!
Intending to have another visit to the V&A tomorrow and my stated intention since this visit was mooted is to get some coffee beans in Braithwaite’s, the oldest shop in Dundee.